crime

3 Chinese men arrested for buying too many diapers

67 Comments

In recent years, a scourge has gripped Japan, and it is people buying too many disposable diapers at once – the Merries brand in particular. For this heinous behavior, three Chinese men were arrested by the Hyogo Prefectural Police on Oct 15 and are expected to be deported back to their country.

The three men were said to have entered Japan through their culinary licenses. However, their alleged true intent was to buy up as many diapers as possible and send them back to buyers in China, thus violating their visas.

According to police, in a five-day span, the men bought 990 packs of disposable diapers produced by Nippon Paper Industries from 267 stores with a view to sending them back to their homeland.

Despite past boycotts of Japanese products in China, political posturing always takes a back seat to a parent’s love for their child. As such, Chinese parents have been demanding Japanese-made diapers in recent years. Grumblings from the Japanese public over sold-out shops from binge buyers have been occurring for some time now.

In particular, the Merries brand by Kao has earned a reputation among Chinese parents as “the iPhone of diapers” and is especially coveted. Interestingly enough, the Merries brand is also produced in China, but parents there don’t trust the diapers, especially with the proclivity of knock-offs to emerge for any popular brand no matter what it may be.

As a result, packs are sometimes flying off the shelves faster than they can be stocked, and are then sold in China at about a 50% increase in price.

It’s still a nice win for Japan-produced goods and the jobs that come along with it, especially as the Japanese economy has been just kind of floating around the surface of the toilet bowl.

Source: Livedoor News

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67 Comments
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Help the economy, get deported. Nice.. If they stole the things then I would understand, but seriously...

23 ( +34 / -11 )

That would explain all the half naked babys in Japan.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

What happened to the diapers? Did they confiscate it or are they going to send it to China?

6 ( +7 / -1 )

This is a nefarious crime.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Ha Ha Ha,,,just diapers! It seems that Chinese can't trust their own country.

11 ( +15 / -4 )

This can be a serious problem, third world people emptying out your store shelves so nothing is left for you (seriously).

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

That's almost 25 stores/day x 2 packs/store x 5 days per man = you'd think they'd be too exhausted to get to the "sending them to China" part...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

What an incredibly stupid thing to arrest people for. I mean, seriously, who cares if they bought diapers to send home. So what if they make a little money from it. Free enterprise. If China had more free enterprise, they wouldn't have to travel to get diapers. And why isn't Japan exporting those evidently highly desirable diapers to China?

What are you in for?

I bought diapers.

Yeah, that's great jailhouse conversation.

9 ( +18 / -9 )

Deported for the crime of exaggerated diaper buying? Seriously???

13 ( +17 / -4 )

My wife was asked by a Chinese man to buy 2 packs of diapers, he gave my kids a can of juice. This diaper buying was a problem in Hongkong a few years ago, mainland Chinese came to Hongkong, bought out diapers, powder milk, and left the Hongkong citizen very little, driving prices up. They also do this to real estate, they buy houses and apartments, bubbling the price up that local citizens can no longer afford to purchase houses, it is happening in Hongkong, Singapore, and I believe in New York as well.

Well, free market and globalization they say, nothing you can do about it without being labeled protectionist communist.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

One reason why the economy is still in toilet; you have a group of dedicated, well-healed customers who want your product and you deport them. Really good thinking. Any business manager with half a brain would immediately create a campaign directed at the Chinese, increase diaper production and then watch the cash role in.

2 ( +8 / -6 )

There has to be something more to this story...were the police who arrested these guys wanting to buy diapers and got pissed off when nothing was left? Were the men not paying in full? Are diapers restricted goods? Does holding more packs of diapers amount to crime? were the diapers of national importance? Now I am scared of getting diapers for my kids...I should think of importing instead !

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The real issue is the visa violation, not the diapers. They were engaging in commerce on a chef visa. They should have been making fried rice somewhere, not trading diapers for profit. Well, the law is the law.

19 ( +22 / -3 )

This story has been reported incorrectly. According to quite a few stories I have seen on/in the Japanese news, the Chinese men were not arrested for buying the diapers.....they were arrested for doing work other than what their visas were issued for. They were hired to work as cooks in a Chinese restaurant in Akashi, Hyogo but they have never worked there.....their entire time here in Japan was spent buying diapers to be held in a warehouse and then sent to China. I really wish the media would report the whole story. Here's an article from jiji.com, a Japanese press agency.

http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201410/2014101500911

36 ( +36 / -0 )

Most Chinese worship the money God, and they will do anything including breaking law for more money. At the funeral, they burn golden paper money hoping to do more business in the next world. Some might want to go to Nirvana, but Chinese will visit bank of China after life with their fake golden paper money. What a profound culture!

3 ( +9 / -6 )

Not only in Japan. Also in Europe there has been a baby formula shortage due to excessive buying of Chinese. E.g.: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/baby-food-shortage-europe-due-china-demand .

10 ( +11 / -1 )

These people who come to Japan to buy in bulk driving Japan's prices up, forcing behind the scenes pressure on the economy is what China is after. By draining the countries limited resources, forcing the companies to either raise prices to cover the costs of rising production costs or start laying off people, cut back production or close altogether. I for one am glad that Japan said enough is enough, the Chinese as the increase has been occurring more and more since they started coming to Japan and other countries, sort of like getting two things in one. take out your enemies internal by eating up their supplies and resources, force them out of business economically. An old ancient Chinese tactic.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Thx Kawachi for setting the record straight,makes more sense

7 ( +7 / -0 )

DiaperGate

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Any business manager with half a brain would immediately create a campaign directed at the Chinese, increase diaper production and then watch the cash role in.

Read the article. Especially this part : " Merries brand is also produced in China, but parents there don’t trust the diapers"

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Bonestructure,

Obviously you do not have a baby/toddler. Many parents in Japan have trouble when the diapers their kid/s need every day 24 hours a day are not available. Sure enough, there are other producers' diapers but according to many parents, Merries are the ones which do not cause skin rash because they provide aeration.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

gokai_wo_manekuOct. 24, 2014 - 08:48AM JST The real issue is the visa violation, not the diapers. They were engaging in commerce on a chef visa. They should have been making fried rice somewhere, not trading diapers for profit. Well, the law is the law.

Maybe they had jobs? I have a small kid so I keep a mental map of where I can get diapers, and I have 5 stores on my route into work where I can get diapers (3 Genkis, and 2 Aokis). It would probably take me an extra hour to stop by each of them on my way into work and buy 2 packs of diapers at each. Repeat that on the way home and that's 20 packs a day with only a 2 hour deviation from my routine.

My point is that buying diapers and working are not mutually exclusive.

... How much money did they make in Japan? You see that's the real issue here. If they made over 200 000yen (and the Japanese authorities can prove this) then they have a case, but if these guys were just buying diapers and sending them back to China for friends and family... well then there is no case.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

What! What? " the Merries brand is also produced in China, but parents there don’t trust the diapers, especially with the proclivity of knock-offs to emerge for any popular brand no matter what it may be."

Okay... they don't trust the Merries diapers sold IN store. BUT they trust the supposed black market diapers sold in back alleys and street corners.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

There has to be something more to this story...were the police who arrested these guys wanting to buy diapers and got pissed off when nothing was left?

From what I hear, a lot of these people are coming over on student visas which prevents one from working and they are not attending any school but instead working illegally. They were arrested for deportation, not to be put held in a prison.

All I know is after testing each with my baby, Pampers was best, sorry Merries.....

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Great job setting the record straight, Kawachi.

Talk about the weirdest news in a while. Nevertheless, it's a good warning for all countries to remain vigilant because we cannot allow those people to eat up other countries' supplies and resources. Force them to take their own stuff all day long, I say.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Well the article does mention it was a visa violation, but the title and first paragraph try to make the article interesting by twisting the facts.

Okay... they don't trust the Merries diapers sold IN store. BUT they trust the supposed black market diapers sold in back alleys and street corners.

Well perhaps that's a normal way of buying things in China... Anyway, they trust the Japanese version, not ones made in China. Its as simple as that.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

I sure hope the tax payers aren't paying for the flight home... Make a fast buck and get a free ticket home?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

In all my 30 years as a police officer, I've never seen anything more twisted and depraved than Diaper purchasing....I'm gonna throw up...

1 ( +4 / -3 )

kibousha:

Exactly. This is NOTHING compared to what is happening in Hong Kong where locals are getting really fed up. The government (read Beijing) has been pressurized to scale back these multiple entry permits to mainland Chinese because they were coming into Hong Kong, clearing the shelves of anything you can think off, causing severe overcrowding on the trains up to the border (if overcrowding in HK can get any worse) and causing a litter problem around Sheung Shui near the border. Not to the mention that locals need to buy these products for themselves.

InakaRob:

According to a programme I watched the other day, the Merries factory in China produces EXACTLY the same diapers, but still, the Chinese customers want the ones made in Japan, even if it means paying double.

Had this been the UK, these three would have absconded by now.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

@Kickboard. I did read the article. I believe if a manager in Japan notices that a high number of Chinese are purchasing their (made in Japan) product then he should increase production (in Japan), maybe include a special seal or mark that proves this product was made in Japan (therefore alleviating fears this is another Chinese knock-off) and watch business boom. Increased production (in Japan) combined with increased purchasing equals economic improvement.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Any smart government would have confiscated the diapers. Then required the foreign perpetrators to leave the country and apply for the proper Japan Diaper Visa at the proper fee. Then they could return and gather their diapers back for another properating fee. Sound stupid. Not as stupid as arresting people for buying excessive quantities of diapers.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

This plan sounds full of s**t

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Misleading headline as the men were arrested and are being deported for violating the Immigration and Control act, they were not in Japan for their stated purpose and a status (visa) violation, as mentioned in the article.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Yeah... I'm sure the Gucci, Fendi, Prada, Louis Vuitton and others would all cry foul if a bunch of Chinese tourists went to Italy and France and bought up all their goods. That was sarcasm of course. No they wouldn't... they'd be making more and hoping more Chinese would show up. What is wrong with this picture.... the Japanese company should make more of these diapers and if they sell out the stores should figure out how to get more quick.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Visa violation is a serious problem, good riddance

4 ( +6 / -2 )

That explains it even the Chinese don't trust their locally made contaminated diapers. Don't blame the Japan cause they can't find it in any store when they need it.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Some of you on here laugh at the seemingly-trivial nature of this, but let me tell you that a lot of these purchases are orchestrated by the triadd. We've had a severe shortage of baby formula in Australia, since the melamine milk scandal in China, because the triads pay international students to send back as much as they can possibly find...

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I have two questions:

Do they get their cash back or is it still good enough for the Japanese to keep?

and,

Were the diapers made in China?

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

This is an interesting twist on the "Japan is buying up America" frenzy of the 1980s. Now the tide has shifted to the Chinese barbarians at the gate posing a national security threat with their aim of buying up Japan's entire diaper supply.

Anyway, this impending scramble to stock up on diapers has got to be good news for the share price of Nippon Paper Industries.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

So I wonder are the J-diapers being exported to China?? If not someone is clearly asleep at the wheel!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Next time I go to China I need to remember to pack some diapers to sell.

Actually in HK they have limits on the numbers of cans of formula that mainland tourists can purchase. The formula is actually kept behind the counters.

Export seems like the smart thing to do, but everything is heavily regulated. Not an easy country to do business in. However, I have heard they are starting up free-trade zones in Shanghai where consumers can by imported goods that don't need to pass all they local regulations.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

If I were the CEO at Merries, i would be livid. Who cares f they buy too many; it's revenue for the company, revenue for the economy, and Chinese mothers and babies are happy...What's the problem here?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Yeah... I'm sure the Gucci, Fendi, Prada, Louis Vuitton and others would all cry foul if a bunch of Chinese tourists went to Italy and France and bought up all their goods.

You are comparing apples and oranges here. Who said Merries cried foul anyway? This has been going on for years and the authorities would be on the lookout for it.

the Japanese company should make more of these diapers and if they sell out the stores should figure out how to get more quick.

Its not so easy to predict when a random Chinese guy is going to walk into your store and buy up all of your diapers. Its not like they schedule appointments for these illegal activities, you know.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Mirai Yeah, you named the people that are happy but consumers still might be faced with empty store shelves from too many barbarians buying things up in unusual quantities. That, and I suspect that if China regulated it's own companies they wouldn't have to resort to this.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Japanese companies are inept are supplying to meet demand. There is a very popular drink- Peach Tea- they can't keep up with supply. Many other products sell wells so they stop supplying it.

As regards this particular nappy situation. They don't have to export- they can sell to intermediaries- plenty of Chinese to take the real risks.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

I wonder if the babies really care...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Some of you talk without even reading the article!!!

Or are you just trying to be funny?

The Chinese were expelled for visa violations, nothing to do with excessive nappy purchasing!

At London's Selfridges each customer is limited to 2 ONLY acquisitions of L Vuitton products. Furthermore LV stores throughout the city will liaise with one another to prevent hoarding by the same customers.

I know that as I had to buy LV bags for my gf's friend from Japan, who wanted extra bags for her friend back home.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

In HK Mainland Chinese are called 'locusts' for this kind of behaviour.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@Sensato... they're buying diapers, not nationally well known real estate. In fact Chinese millionaires are buying up land all over the USA... and guess what... that is great news. Just like I told people in the USA back in the bubble era... they can't take the real estate home with them.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@scipantheist

supply and demand? If there is a high demand then increase the supply .more happiness and profits for everyone.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

FLASH!!! MEN DEPORTED FOR BUYING DIAPERS!

Can anyone see how stupid this is when the sales went to the st thus creating profit for the stores.ores in Japan that sold them

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Mirai I see someone has completed their economics coloring book! Not saying it is you that is silly, economics is. In the real world we frequently see empty shelves for various reasons. In any event, should convenience stores have to become diaper warehouses because the Chinese can't figure out how trade works?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

What's the big deal in buying too many diapers? Blame should go to Kao for their incompetance for not producing diapers faster enough. These type of scenarios seem to be common in Japan. Japan wants to see their economy grow but is too rigid with regulation which ends up stifling it as a result.....so sad.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Agreed.... on no... they're out of diapers and those dirty Chinese triad's are behind it. Its supply and demand... if the idiots at Merries can't make enough... import some from the USA for less than the Merries... I'm sure they'll stand up to Japanese crap.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Wonders if the diapers are for infants or adults? Wonders why Japan does not sell them more diapers? Could the LDP be hoarding them for their own needs?

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Why a fuss about such a petty "crime"? What's so wrong with just buying too many diapers?

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

YuriOtani, there is a baby on the package in the picture that goes with the article, and references in the article to Chinese parents wanting the diapers.

tonttu2012, they were arrested for visa violations (i.e., making money out of commerce rather than cooking, which is what their visas restricted them to), not buying diapers. Does anyone actually read articles right through before commenting these days, I wonder?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Sound familiar here one of the headline on the news.com.au January 4 2013

“CHINESE students are being recruited to buy up hundreds of tins of infant formula in Australia and ship it to be sold on the black market in China for more than twice the price.”

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@bjohnson23 and danalawton, overwhelmingly agree to your observations. I wonder if the owners of said diapers company is Chinese.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The three men were said to have entered Japan through their culinary licenses. However, their alleged true intent was to buy up as many diapers as possible and send them back to buyers in China, thus violating their visas.

Good to see that Japanese law enforcement is keeping an eye on visa violators! The guys violated their visa's and got the boot, good!

But, this is nothing new, Chinese mainlanders don't trust the products being produced in their nation. So, enterprising (visa violators) wannabe millionaire go shopping in different countries and then resell them in Communist China.

GobshiteOct. 24, 2014 - 07:38AM JST Help the economy, get deported. Nice.. If they stole the things then I would understand, but seriously...

So, you're in favor of people breaking the law as long as it helps the local economy, got it!

kwattOct. 24, 2014 - 07:55AM JST Ha Ha Ha,,,just diapers! It seems that Chinese can't trust their own country.

That's correct, the Chinese don't trust the products being sold in their own nations because they could be knockoffs.

Corruption is just one of the problem with Communist China's system. Everyone is so desperate to make money that they turn a blind eye to knock-off producers for the right price. And in China there are so many knockoffs that consumers just can't the difference.

kawachiOct. 24, 2014 - 08:49AM JST This story has been reported incorrectly. According to quite a few stories I have seen on/in the Japanese news, the Chinese men were not arrested for buying the diapers.....they were arrested for doing work other than what their visas were issued for.

Nailed it!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Japan today's headline is horribly wrong, completely misleading the reader. They were arrested for doing activities not compatible with their visa status. They should arrest the shop owner claiming to have them as employees as well. BTW, besides baby diapers, Japanese female hygiene products (menstrual pads) are also all the rage among Chinese tourists. I once witnessed a lady exporting to China a huge amount of these in her carry on.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Diapers, the new weapon of mass destruction. This world of ours has gone to the toilet!!!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

There was a problem in the UK a few years back when people were buying very large amounts of baby milk to send to China after the tainted milk scandal, and to other places in south east Asia. It caused shortages in some areas, so many shops had to impose limits on how many a person could buy as it took the shops and manufacturers by surprise and they could not keep up with demand.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Most of you missed the point. It's not buying the diapers that they are getting deported for, it's the fact that they bought the diapers to export and make money from those transactions. That's breaking the terms of their VISA and that's why they are being deported. It's really a sign of the times that people jump on a bandwagon and they have no clue where that bandwagon is headed and for what cause. Truly embarrassing but then thumbing down this comment will only to prove my point. Read my comment again before you go off half-cocked. That goes for you too JT Mods.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

if i see people buying too much diaper in one time, I can call the police??wow

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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